Denver Broncos defenders D.J. Williams, left, and Robert Ayers pull down Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Dennis Dixon during a preseason game in 2010.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he is glad that he has back-up quarterback Dennis Dixon to imitate the Broncos’ Tim Tebow in practice this week.

Dixon played an option-like offense at Oregon and, ironically, was thought to be the leading Heisman candidate in 2007, the year Tebow won it, until Dixon suffered a knee injury late in the season.

“We prepare for (the option) during the off-season,” Tomlin said Wednesday, when asked about Tebow. “because in the National Football League we understand where this game could have gone and could go. We’ve been looking at it now for the last several years.

“That’s one of the reasons why we acquired a guy like Dennis Dixon with that skill set. He played at Oregon in a spread attack, or a spread-read attack. We’ve always had a package of plays like that.

“In turn,” Tomlin added, “our defense has also experienced the benefit of looking at some of those things and preparing for it.”

Mike Klis has been with The Denver Post since 1998, after working 13 years with the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. Major League Baseball was Klis' initial passion. He started covering the Colorado Rockies after Coors Field was approved for construction in August 1990.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times. She has reported regularly on the Broncos since joining the staff.

A published author and award-winning journalist, Benjamin Hochman is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. He previously worked on the staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winners of two Pulitzer Prizes for their Hurricane Katrina coverage.